Phytochemical Profile and Antioxidant Properties of Italian Green Tea, A
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horticulturae Article Phytochemical Profile and Antioxidant Properties of Italian Green Tea, a New High Quality Niche Product Nicole Mélanie Falla, Sonia Demasi , Matteo Caser * and Valentina Scariot Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy; [email protected] (N.M.F.); [email protected] (S.D.); [email protected] (V.S.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-011-670-8935 Abstract: The hot beverage commonly known as tea results from the infusion of dried leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze. Ranking second only to water for its consumption worldwide, it has always been appreciated since antiquity for its aroma, taste characteristics, and beneficial effects on human health. There are many different processed tea types, including green tea, a non-fermented tea which, due to oxidation prevention maintains the structure of the bioactive compounds, especially polyphenols; these bioactive compounds show a number of benefits for the human health. The main producers of tea are China and India, followed by Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Vietnam, however recently new countries are entering the market, with quality niche productions, among which also Italy. The present research aimed to assess the bioactive compounds (polyphenols) and the antioxidant activity of two green teas (the “Camellia d’Oro” tea—TCO, and the “Compagnia del Lago” tea—TCL) produced in Italy, in the Lake Maggiore district, where nurserymen have recently started to cultivate C. sinensis. In this area the cultivation of acidophilic plants as Citation: Falla, N.M.; Demasi, S.; ornamentals has been known since around 1820. Due to the crisis of the floricultural sector, producers Caser, M.; Scariot, V. Phytochemical have been trying to diversify their product in order to increase their competitiveness, starting to Profile and Antioxidant Properties of cultivate Italian tea. Their antioxidant activity was assessed, finding a similar or higher antioxidant Italian Green Tea, a New High Quality Niche Product. Horticulturae capacity than in other green teas, as reported in literature. TCO showed a higher antioxidant activity 2+ −1 −1 −1 2021, 7, 91. https://doi.org/ (42,758.86 mmol Fe kg ; 532.37 µmol TE g DW; 881.08 µmol TE g DW) and phenolic content −1 2+ −1 −1 10.3390/horticulturae7050091 (14,918.91 mg GAE 100 g DW) than TCL (25,796.61 mmol Fe kg ; 302.35 µmol TE g DW; 623.44 µmol TE g−1 DW; 8540.42 mg GAE 100 g−1 DW). Through HPLC, a total of thirteen phenolic Academic Editors: Lucia Guidi, Luigi compounds were identified quantitatively, including catechins, benzoic acids, cinnamic acids, and De Bellis, Alberto Pardossi and flavonols, in TCO while only 9 in TCL, and mainly in lower amounts. Albeit with differences, both Elazar Fallik teas were found to be of quality proving that Italy could have the possibility to grow profitably C. sinensis. Received: 15 March 2021 Accepted: 23 April 2021 Keywords: tea; Camellia sinensis; antioxidant activity; DPPH; ABTS; FRAP; HPLC Published: 27 April 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in 1. Introduction published maps and institutional affil- iations. The hot beverage resulting from the infusion of dried leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze is commonly known as tea [1,2]. Tea is one of the most popular nonalcoholic beverages consumed across the world, second only to water [3–9], so much appreciated since antiquity for its aroma, taste characteristics, and beneficial health ef- fects [1], thus consumed as an herbal infuse and for its medicinal properties [5,6]. World Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. tea consumption increased to 5.5 million tons by 2016, mostly due to a rapid growth in per This article is an open access article capita income levels in China, India, and other emerging economies [10]. The World Bank distributed under the terms and foresees an increase in average tea auction price from USD 2.80 in 2017 to USD 2.84 in 2020, conditions of the Creative Commons expecting an extension of the global tea market [11]. World tea production reached 5.73 Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// million tons in 2016 [10], with China constituting of 42.6% of world tea production [10], creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ accounting for USD 4 billion [12]. India, the second largest producer, recorded a production 4.0/). of 1.27 million tons in 2016. Horticulturae 2021, 7, 91. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7050091 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae Horticulturae 2021, 7, 91 2 of 12 There are many different types of teas, and most of them are prepared with the buds of two botanical varieties, C. sinensis var. sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica (Masters) Wight [9,13]; their characteristics (i.e., appearance, organoleptic taste, chemical contents, and flavor) vary according to the fermentation level: tea can be categorized in nonfermented tea (i.e., green tea, and white tea), semifermented tea (i.e., oolong tea), and fermented tea (i.e., black tea and red tea) [5,6,9,14–17]. The 78% of the tea worldwide production is black tea, especially consumed in Western countries, 20% consists of green tea, which is usually consumed in Asian countries, and 2% regards Oolong tea, commonly consumed in southern China [14]. Globally, the production of green tea increased annually by 5.4% over the past decade, also due to green tea’s perceived health benefits [10]. Actually, fresh tea leaves contain chemical components such as polyphenols (catechins, flavonoids), alkaloids (caffeine, theobromine, etc.), volatile oils, polysaccharides, amino acids, lipids, vitamins (e.g., vitamin C), etc. [6,9,18]. Green teas are produced through steaming or roasting, thus inactivating the activity of polyphenol oxidase, preventing oxidation and so maintaining the structure of the phenolic compounds [1,5,18]. The resulting green teas show a polyphenol content varying from 30% to 42% of dry matter weight [14]. Due to its chemical constituents, tea shows many beneficial properties, such as an- tioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, and antimicrobial effects [6,7,9,14,15,19–21]. A regular, daily consumption of green tea has been associated with many health benefits [7,22], which are mainly attributed to polyphenols, especially catechins [3,9,23]. Khan and Mukhtar (2007) reported that a balanced diet and the consumption of green tea can protect from oxidative stress and reduce reactive oxygen species damages to lipid membranes, proteins, and nucleic acids. Moreover, many epidemiological studies investigated how tea consumption affected the incidence of cancer in humans, finding a protective and preventive effect of tea against various types of cancer (oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal cancer) [14], but also healthy effects on many other pathologies involving oxidative stress. Today, more than 50 countries produce different types of tea worldwide, not only as an herbal infuse pleasant to consume, but also for its well-known benefits on human health [2,5]. Tea evergreen plant (C. sinensis)[3,4] is native to South and Southwest China, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia [2,24,25], then it became popular in India and Japan, and later in Europe and Russia [5,6]. The first plant specimens arrived in Europe were those studied by Linnaeus in 1763 [26], although the tea beverage had already reached Europe in the XVII century. However, tea cultivation has remained a prerogative of Asian countries, while in Europe the cultivation of the congeneric species Camellia japonica has spread for ornamental purposes only. The first camellia (C. japonica) was introduced in Italy at the end of the XVII century, in Caserta (Campania, South Italy) [27,28]. Since then its cultivation gradually became popular, reaching central and northern Italy, especially Tuscany, Piedmont, and Lombardy [27]. The critical period of the floricultural sector caused by globalization [27,29], since the end of the past decade forced Italian producers of the Lake Maggiore district (Piedmont region) to diversify their final products in order to increase their competitiveness, starting to cultivate C. sinensis in order to produce Italian green tea. Currently there are no studies related to the quality of tea produced in Italy, thus, the aim of the present research was to assess the main bioactive compounds (polyphenols), and beneficial properties (antioxidant activity) of two green teas produced in this new productive context. Horticulturae 2021, 7, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 13 Horticulturae 2021, 7, 91 3 of 12 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Plant Material2. Materials and Site Characteristics and Methods Camellia sinensis2.1. Plant var. 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